Lakeside Cabins and Bedside Manners
by corazongitano
Summary: When the study group takes a trip to a cabin in the woods, Annie and Jeff are forced into an awkward situation together!
1. Chapter 1: Driving a Lexus

"Why the hell did I agree to this? I knew this trip was only going to cause me problems"

Jeff thought him to himself as he laid next to a peacefully slumbering Annie. To be completely honest, he knew exactly why he had agree to go to a rented cottage for the weekend. Britta had sent him a text inviting him to a weekend trip with the rest of the study group, minus of course Pierce who was still not speaking to them. According to her, the group needed some positive time together to bond after the whole Pierce paintball debacle. He did agree, Pierce deciding to leave the study group had really shaken them to the core.

He resented Pierce's "I'm done with whatever you call this" comment, and the fact that he had abandoned them so quickly even after they had seen it fit to forgive his transgressions towards the study group throughout the year. Britta was quick to point out to him that everyone (except for Annie) was in favor of kicking Pierce out right until he turned out to be the knight in paintball armor to the damsel in distress that was Greendale Community College. She said to an obviously irritated Jeff, "I could see why Pierce would be insulted by our change of attitude. Even Annie wasn't on his side after a certain point, and hell, after thinking about, if it was me in Pierce's position, I would have probably never spoken to you guys again."

He spent most of his summer avoiding the study group, so he didn't exactly want to spend a weekend roasting marshmallows and singing campfire songs with them. He had been screening texts and phone calls in regards to the trip for a couple days, until he received a text from Britta that caused some anxiety in him.

**Britta**: Did you know that Abed and Annie kissed during paintball? (Oh and I still need an answer about the trip.)

**Jeff:** Wait, WHAT? WHEN? How do you know? (and I'll see. I'm still trying to decide if I'd rather sleep in my Egyptian Cotton bedspread and watch some Mad Men or get massacred by mosquitoes in the woods.)

**Britta:** I forced it out of Troy during one of our movie nights. Abed had said to him that he had kissed her during the game. Something about pretending to be Han Solo? I don't know. I just don't think it's a good idea.

**Jeff:** Uh of course not. Abed was just playing a role, and Annie's probably going to go and fall in love with him or something. Crap. I hate to agree with Pierce, but what the hell is going on with this group? Next I'm going to be hearing about you and Troy.

**Britta:** …

**Jeff:** SERIOUSLY BRITTA. WHAT?

**Britta:** Okay that's not the point. Don't worry about that. The point is, I just. I think we need to nip it in the bud okay? Although, from what I recall, Abed did set her straight at the final meeting.

**Jeff:** No, I don't think he might have gotten his point across. This is Annie we're talking about, the girl who made us spend a whole evening searching for a purple pen. You better not be tricking me into coming with you guys, Perry. I'm canceling some pretty hot dates for you.

**Britta:** Oh boohoo. If you don't want to go, just say so. I'll keep a close eye out for anything weird, but I don't think we have too much to worry about.

**Jeff:** Already canceled, so I'm going. Uh, please tell me we at least have indoor plumbing.

* * *

><p>Shirley wanted her family to come along, and Troy (who was crashing temporarily on the Bennett couch) had driven up with them. Jeff stated since he would be driving, the rest of the study group would go up with him. 6:00 am on a Sunday, Jeff drove towards Annie's apartment with a knot in his stomach. He wasn't jealous of what had occurred between his friends, he just didn't like the sound of it. The study group was pretty complicated already and he wasn't about to deal with a whole year of AnnieAbed tension. Not to mention, If Abed wasn't interested in her, he didn't want to see her get hurt. Although, he would never admit that to either of them.

"Yeah, that's it. I'm just protecting her feelings," he told himself as he walked up the stairs towards the third floor.

"Just a minute Jeff! Just finishing up, come on in." Carefully walking into small apartment, he smiled to himself. It was exactly how he had pictured it would be. He was always amazed and annoyed at her ability to look at the good in the worst of situations, even when it came to this crappy apartment above a sex shop. Picking up her bags, he walked towards her open bathroom door, where he found her carefully applying mascara to those blue doe eyes he constantly avoided looking into.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be just a little bit. I just can't leave the house without looking proper. My grandmother always said that you should never leave the house without a dash of perfume and a little bit of lipstick."

"Annie, you look fine. It's 6am and last time I checked, we're going to woods."

"That doesn't matter, I only look this way because I made an effort to wake up early and fix myself up!"

Shaking his head and pulling her out of the small room, he said "Crazy woman, It's not even light out. You didn't sleep did you?"

"Uhm. I might have gotten distracted by a certain download of a X-Men movie with a certain Scottish actor. So, no I didn't."

* * *

><p>After picking up a very sleepy Britta and an alert Abed, they started their 3 hour drive. Annie had chosen to sit in the backseat with Abed so that Britta could continue sleeping. The knot in Jeff's stomach seem to have not liked that idea, because as soon as Annie was seated in the backseat of the car, it came back with a vengeance. Choosing to ignore the feeling, he looked at the road ahead of him and kept his mouth shut. An hour into the drive, Britta was finally awake, messing with the radio, and complaining that Jeff's music was older than everyone in the car's age combined. "So kill me for being into the classics. You didn't see me complaining when you made me go to that horrible con…" Staring into the dashboard mirror he caught the sight of Annie, who had fallen asleep on Abed's Shoulder. Smiling, Abed softly patted the top of her head, and continue to look out the window, unaware of the attention that was being focused on him at the moment.<p>

_**SCREEECH.**_

"WINGER WHAT THE HELL?

"AH WHAT HAPPENED?"

"It seems something startled our driver. Maybe he saw a man running out into the middle of the road and we're about to have a horror movie weekend."

Jeff, climbing out of his Lexus, paced out in front of his car for a couple minutes as six curious eyes stared straight at him. How was he suppose to explain that? Oh sorry guys, saw a raccoon in the road. By the way, Abed try and get away from Annie? The knot had grown to the size of a basketball, when he saw how comfortable Annie looked. How much at peace she seemed while she rested on her friend's shoulder. He wanted to say "It should be my shoulder you're on, not his." But he quickly repressed those thoughts, realizing how inappropriate it was. She was still years younger than him, and quite inexperienced from what he knew. But Abed was not moron nor was he blind. While he may not have feelings for her at the moment, he could decide the turn this into another one of his roleplaying activities and it could lead to something else.

At this point, everyone had stepped out of the car and started walking towards Jeff. He waved them down and tried to slide back into his nonchalant attitude, before approaching them. While Annie and Britta walked back to the car, Abed continue to approach him.

"Okay. So I'm assuming you saw me with Annie. I'm always going to assume that you know about the kiss. Well, calm down. It was just part of the game and I'm not going to pursue any Dawson's Creek love triangle here."

"What are you talking about? Okay, woah calm down Abed. I've just got a really bad headache and I thought I saw a raccoon and…"

"You know, for someone who says that it's all in Annie's head. You sure are acting strangely. I usually just observe and never comment unless it is absolutely needed, but after this year, I'm going say it. You don't want to be with her, but you don't want anyone else there either. If I had been interested, what would you have done? You would have not been able to say that I'm not good for her. You know my character and I wouldn't exactly be a bad match for her, I might even tone her down a bit. You also can't use the study group for an excuse either, seeing as that didn't stop you and Britta from having sex in my dorm."

"Headache coming back, oh god. I'm dying. It's a brain tumor and it goes by the name of ABED NADIR. Let just forget this happened and go to the car, okay?"

The rest of the drive was pretty silent, seeing as Jeff's "headache" had gotten worse and now Britta was driving his most prized possession.

* * *

><p><em>I MISS COMMUNITY SO MUCH. SEPTEMBER IS WHEN THEY'RE BACK RIGHT? PLEASE? <em>

_Uh, so yes! I miss them too much and I had to write this. Tell me what you think. It will probably only be 5 or 6 chapters at most. I don't know yet, but I'll see! Tell me what you think so far, but I'm still pretty new at writing fanfic on a public forum, so be gentle. _


	2. Chapter 2: The Pier and Polka Dot Bikini

Surprisingly, Annie loved the wilderness. She found that her high maintenance tendencies would always calm down whenever she was in a forest. She was happier near the tall trees and the beautiful lakes. Her parents loved skiing, so every year, up until they lost contact, they would take her up to the mountains as a reward for her academic achievement. When Britta mentioned a weekend in a cabin, she jumped at the idea! It had been two years since she had spent time in the wilderness and after the craziness of her sophomore year at Greendale? She needed it.

The cabin was absolutely gorgeous. Britta had said that it was her brother's and he had offered to let them use it for as long as they liked, as long as nothing was broken or it ended up on the local news.

* * *

><p>After unpacking and settling in, everyone had started to do their own thing. Britta had decided to organize the groceries and start lunch with Shirley, while Andre and the boys were watching television in the main bedroom. Everyone had decided early on that it would be easier to let Shirley and her family take the biggest room so that they could all have privacy. Jeff, who had quickly fallen asleep on one of the couches, was awoken suddenly by Troy, who wearing a some sort of raccoon cap on his head.<p>

"It's really beautiful up here isn't it? Ah, I could totally see myself living somewhere like this when I'm old. Making friends with bears and deer, pretending to be stuck in a Disney movie, floating away on a bunch of balloons."

"Oh, it's just fabulous. I'm loving the bug bites I'm already feeling. So, where's your evil twin anyways?"

Troy motioned behind them towards a window, and Jeff found himself speechless.

_She. Annie. Bikini. Woah. Headache. Can't breathe. _

Sitting next to Abed was Annie, who had decided to sunbathe until lunch was ready. The cabin was right next to a lake, so it was a pretty obvious choice that they would bring bathing suits. He just didn't imagine he would be seeing so much of her so quickly. If they were alone and she wasn't Annie, she would probably be wearing much less.

"Is he looking?"

"Mhm. Troy owes me 15 bucks."

Annie had been growing very close to Abed and Troy since the paintball game. Yes, she and Abed had kissed and while she had misread his signals the first time, they were okay now. They had spent the first part of the summer eating lunch together during Annie's 30 minute break from work, or having movie nights in his dorm room. Troy and Abed had surprised her with a romantic comedy movie night (after watching too many Star Wars movies) and she baked them cookies and would leave little notes in the pockets of their jeans. Even with everything that had happened, they had each other. She wasn't little Annie Adderall anymore. She was clean for over a year now. She wasn't a lonely outcast with no friends. Abed and Troy had made sure that she never felt that way anymore, showering her with affection.

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

"To a certain extent, yes. But, I'm not going to keep making a fool of myself. Jeff made it clear that he would rather hook up with Britta secretly then admit he finds me attractive."

"But you know he does. He doesn't have to say it, you can see it in face. He looks like he wants to go all Rambo on me right now."

"Yet, he still thinks I'm this 18 year old girl he met on the first day of study group and I'm just tired of it. Part of me wishes I had just gone with Vaughn when I had the chance."

"No. It wouldn't have made sense for you to go with him to Delaware. You still need to do some more growing up. Since I'm trying to tone down the movie references, I'll just be honest with you, I would have missed this too much."

Jeff, who was still watching the twosome intently, was suddenly feeling very sick to his stomach. Annie was lovingly hugging the tall boy, and throwing clumps of grass into his face. He watched as the two friends chased each other around the yard, attempting to shove each other into the lake. Running onto the pier, Troy (who had joined them) and Abed suddenly picked her up and threw her into the lake, laughing hysterically as Annie shouted at them to help her out of the cold water. He could deny he was jealous, but he knew better. She looked so carefree, something he rarely ever got to experience with her. He wasn't accustomed to this Annie, this relaxed and extremely happy person. She pulled Troy into the water with her and Abed quickly followed in. Jeff felt like he needed to lie down again.

* * *

><p><em>So! Hiya everyone! Still missing Community, still wanting to finish this story.<em>

_ I'll probably have the 3rd chapter up by Sunday morning the latest. Tell me what you think?_


	3. Chapter 3: The First Night

There wasn't enough beds for everyone.

_Why was there never enough beds for everyone?_

It was late into the evening and Abed had drifted off on the couch during a movie with Troy and Britta, who unaware of their surroundings had fallen asleep leaning against each other covered by a blanket. Shirley had decided to step out of her room for some coffee when she found Annie sitting on top of the kitchen counter, reading as always.

"Oh, shouldn't you go to bed Annie dear? It's getting late and you've got a busy day of hiking tomorrow! Oh it sounds like so much fun."

"Ah, yeah I'll be going to bed soon, I just wanted to finish this chapter. Are you coming with us?"

"No. I'm going to stay here with Andre and the kids. I don't want to leave him with all the responsibilities. Oh, and It'll be nice to have the place to ourselves for a couple of hours."

She kissed Annie's forehead and whispered goodnight, while pointing at the trio asleep near the rug in the living room, giggling to herself. Shirley didn't know how they would sleep. During unpacking, they had realized that there wouldn't be enough beds for everyone. One person would need to sleep on the couch, while the four others would have to double up on the two remaining beds. If she was being completely honest, she didn't really care all that much. She was in a beautiful cabin with both of her families and that was all she needed to know. Not to mention, she didn't have to fight for the main room.

* * *

><p>Jeff was outside the cabin, needing some time alone after the karaoke and Monopoly that they had put him through earlier in the evening. As a child, he wasn't much of a wilderness explorer. He enjoy playing outside with his friends and all, but only if he wasn't being forced into a lord of the flies reenactment. His mother had tried to put him in Boy Scouts, but Jeff had launched an all-out war at her until she gave in and let the boy spend his Saturdays watching television instead. He had known at an extremely early age that he was perfectly suited for law.<p>

He stepped into the cabin to find that Abed had stayed on the couch and Britta and Troy had decided to share a cot on the floor near the fireplace. Obviously Perry wasn't hiding this thing between her and Troy. He would have to force it out of her at some point this weekend.

Which meant…

There was only one bed and he would have to share it with the one person he had been avoiding the whole day.

He casually walked into the small dimly light room, to find that Annie was nowhere to be found. As he threw himself onto the bed, crossed his arms behind his head, and had started to drift off, Annie walked into the room.

"Uhm excuse me Jeff, what are you going to do about this? I can't exactly sleep on the floor you know."

"Well, I'm not going to so just lay down okay? You guys want to get all Bear Grylls tomorrow, so I at least need to sleep in a bed tonight. Oh and I'm not about to face Britta's wrath by waking her up. She looks mighty comfortable with Troy's arms around her if you know what I mean."

"But. This is so.. Do I have to do everything?"

Annie stormed out of the room, and tapped Abed softly on the shoulder. He just winked at his closest friend and said flirtingly, "go to bed, Annie. We'll cuddle in the morning okay?"

Defeated (seeing as she totally agreed with Jeff on the Britta front), She stepped back into the room and prepared herself for not getting any sleep whatsoever.

The small bathroom was located to the right side of the room, facing the bed. As Annie finished her bedtime routine, her mind was racing. He didn't even fight her about sharing a bed. If anything, Jeff should have been the first to protest about how inappropriate this would be. It felt as if they had switched places and Annie was the one with all the insecurities about this evening. Her heartbeat was extremely elevated and it was blatantly obvious she would be up all night, making sure that she didn't snore or drool.

By the time Jeff finished getting ready, Annie was already lying down on her side of the bed. The outline of her body covered by the sheets make his stomach fall apart and he wasn't sure he could go through with this. He wanted nothing more than to sleep next to her, but he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it the following morning, Abed TV reference included. He hadn't fought with her about the change of sleeping partners seeing as there was nothing he could do about the situation. Britta was extremely content to be resting with Troy and Abed seem to be getting a kick out the whole debacle.

So he laid down. Next to Annie. Annie was lying in the same bed as him.

Lost in her thoughts, Annie couldn't sleep. She had closed her eyes as soon as she heard the door knob of the bathroom turn. Suddenly, the left side of the bed sunk down.

She was lying down next to Jeff Winger. She had dreamt about this all of last year, and here it was, happening to her. Little Annie Adderall would have never imagined this actually happening to her. Her junior year of high school, she had convinced herself that she would eventually turn into an old cat lady. Yes, she eventually did lose her virginity during a certain Madonna song, but that was besides the point. She had mentioned her fantasy to Abed during a game of truth or dare, and it was starting to become obvious that he had been planning for this.

Only inches away from each other, she was suddenly overwhelmed by her surroundings. It wasn't like she imagined it would be and it was driving her crazy. He should be passionately kissing her neck as she whispered dirty things that she would never actually say in real life into his ear. Not lying awkwardly next to each other, their backs turned away. But she couldn't back down from this. He always saw her as love-struck Annie and she had told herself that she wasn't going to be that anymore. After he had called her out during the last diorama meeting, something in her snapped. She was Annie Edison, Badass. Not Annie Edison, milady. She couldn't keep doing this to herself. Most of all, she couldn't expect him to change for her. He had made it clear that his interests were only of the friendly sort.

Was she awake? He just wanted to kiss her.

While he now hesitated doing so because of her age, the girl could kiss.

He was so tired of avoiding her. He didn't want to lose her to Abed, Vaughn, Rich, or the Black Rider. He missed catching her glancing his way throughout the day and marking abs tallies on the side of the study group table. He might have jumped the gun during that particular group meeting where Abed reveled about he sleeping with Britta throughout the year and it hurt her. But he was feeling attacked at the moment and his lawyer instincts came out in those situations. He cared about Annie, and he was definitely attracted to her, but he didn't know if it could ever be anything more than that. When Annie started to become distant and aloof to his charms, is when it started to eat away at him. He wanted to be facing her right now, watching her breath rise and fall. He closed his eyes, hating himself for not going to bed earlier, or maybe for not having the courage to pull her towards him and end his suffering.

* * *

><p><strong><em>OKAY! So I think I have an idea where I'm going with the next two chapters (or hell, it might just be one HUGE 4th chapter). Hopefully you're liking this so far and I'll probably have it done by Wednesday night latest? No promises though, I'm currently on a job hunt! Wish me luck everyone.<em>**


	4. Chapter 4: These Arms of Mine

The following morning, Annie was awaken by the smell of scrambled eggs and fresh bread. When she was a child, her mother would cook the family a big breakfast every Saturday morning. As she grew up, she started volunteering most mornings at local organizations, so the tradition became infrequent. When her parents divorced and she entered high school, they stopped all together. Annie joined cheerleading, and it took up every Saturday morning that she had left. Her mother didn't really feel like cooking a huge meal, and Annie didn't really notice. They had stopped feeling like family years ago, and worked like a machine now. A pretty painting that had no underlying significance.

One of the best things about being a mother for Shirley was making breakfast for her family. It gave her a chance to pamper her husband and get her children well-fed and on their way to school. While Britta would complain about gender roles and all, Shirley loved cooking in general. It had been passed down through generations in her family and it didn't make her any less of a strong, independent woman. She had managed to prove that to herself during the trial separation from Andre. While in the beginning she was crying herself to sleep quite frequently, she never let her children see her falter. They expected her to continue being their rock of support, and she wasn't about to let them down. "They're children and I want them to stay that way as long as they can. If I force them to look at the realities of life too soon, they might become jaded adults and resent the institution of marriage all together. I don't want to be at fault for that," she told her mother over a cup of coffee one afternoon. Despite her reunion with Andre, she would never forget that feeling and it would continue to exist throughout the core of her being for the rest of her life.

As the study group slowly wandering towards the kitchen, still in their pjs and wrapped in blankets, a smiling Andre and Shirley welcomed them to a beautifully set table, covered in food. When everyone was seated and choosing through the varied options of foods, Annie chimed in,

"Oh, Jeff's not here. Does anyone know where he is?"

Grabbing 2 rolls from the middle of the table, Andre paused and said,

"He left a note saying that he was going for an early morning run and that he would be back soon. We didn't say anything… well because.."

Shirley grabbed her husband's hand gently and finished his thought

"Well, we thought you already knew honey. Seeing as we peeked in your room this morning and found the note on the pillow next to your head."

Turning red, Annie said,

"Oh that? We just shared a bed, guys! Nothing happened! Its just, we thought since we were planning on going hiking, it would be better for us to get a goodnight's rest. Nothing else, don't worry!"

"Yano, this is kind of like that one episode of Dawson's Creek…"

"Oh I'm sure you guys got PLENTLY of sleep last night," Britta snickered.

"Britta, honey. Children at the table. We can mock Annie later."

"Oh I'm just kidding. She knows I'm just kidding. You know that Annie right?"

Interrupted by the door opening, a flushed and sweaty Jeff walked towards a group of eyes that suddenly turned his way.

"Well speak of the devil. Join us, Jeff. We just started to eat right now."

"Ah, thanks Andre, But I think I'm going to hop in the shower. You guys continue to talk about my amazing body though, great topic of conversation."

Walking towards the room that he had shared with Annie the night before, he started to remove his headphones, when he overheard Britta shouting

"Way to be a gentleman, Winger."

"Bite me Blondie."

Laughing at his comeback, silence proceeded. But when he stepped out of the shower there was a note pinned to the towel.

"_Ew. Already have. NO THANK YOU nipple-play. Anyways, you seem to already found someone to do that for you, congrats."_

* * *

><p>The hike ended up being an absolute disaster. As expected, Jeff and Annie barely said a word to each other, except when they started to argue about which direction they should take next. Jeff spent most of the hike complaining about having to trek up a mountain to only have to trek back down afterwards. Troy, Abed, and Britta were getting extremely tired of their bickering and the tension, that they had started to come up with a plan to ditch them when it started to drizzle. Halfway into getting rained on and realizing they were lost, Britta slipped and sprained her ankle, forcing Jeff to carry her all the way back the cabin, despite the complaints of Troy.<p>

If Annie had any reservations about this, she didn't say them. She was too busy arguing with Jeff about what way would taken them back to the cabin. Early into the hike, Annie had taken the lead, being the most experienced in the wilderness. She pointed out what plants to stay away from and she found the easiest way for them to cross a steam they had come across. After the rain continued pouring down and Britta fell, Annie attempted to find her bearings and locate their route home. The rain continued and so visibility was extremely limited, not to mention it was starting to get dark. Out of sheer impatience, Jeff took the compass out of Annie's hands, shouting to get heard across the loud storm.

"Okay Annie Oakley, seeing as the wilderness explorer in you has obviously taken a break. I'm going to get us back to camp. Britta needs to elevate this and we can't stay out here too longer, we'll get sick and we're hours away from a decent hospital."

"Jeff I can do this. Just let me look at my compass one more time."

"NO. Just keep quiet and follow me. I think I remember how to get us back."

"UH. Coming from the person who didn't even want to be here in the first place? I'm the one with years of girl scout training and personal experience in the forest. We should listen to me."

" Personal experience? Okay Jane Goodall, I'm not listening to you, we're walking away and you are going to let me get us back before I leave you here."

"Stop calling me names, Jeff. I will do no such thing! I can lead just as well as you can! Maybe even better, you have no training at all and what if you take us into a cave with a bear in it or something?"

"Annie I swear, if you don't stop talking."

"I can do this! Why don't you.."

Suddenly Abed and Troy shouted,

"GUYS. The cabin is literally across this field, we can see it behind that large tree."

They quietly walked towards the cabin, tension filling the air that it made it impossible to ignore.

As soon as Jeff set Britta down on the couch, Troy was setting pillows under ankle and placing a packet of ice on it as well. It was his fault that she had fallen and he felt incredibly guilty. He had been trying to jokingly push her out from under the tree that was sheltering them from the rain when she slid on the wet ground. Britta meant a lot to him and he couldn't bear to see her in pain. She had reassured him that it wasn't his fault and that she wasn't upset, but that did nothing to ease his guilt. He would have to make it up to her, somehow.

"I want to make this up to you. Will you go out to dinner with me? Or at least let me cook for you or something."

"You don't exactly have a kitchen yet Troy. But if you come over to my place, I'll let you surprise me with your best vegetarian dish okay?"

Troy quickly smiled and proceed to help Britta towards the extra restroom so that she could take a quick shower and change her clothes.

"We should probably all remove our clothing as well before we get sick."

Abed suggested as he started to untie the laces of his soaking wet shoes. He looked towards Annie, who arms crossed, was just about to burst with anger at Jeff. This could only end really badly or really well for them in Abed's eyes. He had gotten to know Annie rather well the last couple weeks and he knew that she wasn't about to take Jeff's actions lying down. He understood where she was coming from, but also saw this as another part of her personality. As an individual who is easily vexed, she wouldn't have just let his arrogance go, especially with their history. After what happened between them last night? He was interested to see what the outcome would end up being, although secretly he already knew.

"Listen here, Jeff. I'm really upset at.."

Before Annie could finish her sentence, Jeff grabbed her hand, pulling her into their room and slammed the door behind them. In the living room, Abed and Troy stood with their eyes wide open and their mouths shut, as they heard the lock of the door click loudly.

* * *

><p>"What is your problem? You've been nothing but rude to me all day. You don't trust my navigation skills or judgment. I'm tired of you treating me like I'm a child who can't do anything right. You may not want anything to do with me, but that doesn't mean you can downplay my achievements. I'm proud of my wilderness knowledge, which more than you can say."<p>

Annie glared at Jeff as she started to remove her jacket and throw it in a pile on the floor. She didn't care how disorganized the pile look, she had just about had it with Jeff and after this trip, she wasn't sure she ever wanted to speak to him again.

"Stop acting like a brat when you don't get your way. It was cute at first and now it's just starting to get annoying. If you don't want me to treat you like a child, learn to not act childishly, Annie. It's not very becoming."

Sitting on the bed, Jeff removed his shoes and socks. Refusing to look at the woman across from him, he awaited her response. Angry women were one of Jeff's top ten greatest fears, and he was sure he had pissed her off with his last statement.

"That is the stupidest argument I've ever heard. Are you sure you were a lawyer, Jeff? From the looks of it, you weren't a very good one. You weren't even able to argue your way out of this trip."

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. I'm going to let it go for your own good."

"Whatever Jeff. As soon as we get to Greendale, I'll be out of your hair for good. I'm done with this."

Getting up from the bed, he walked towards Annie, looking her in the face,

"Say that again, Edison. I dare you. Your empty threats mean nothing right now seeing as you're trapped in this cabin with me for the rest of the weekend and I'm your ride home."

"I'm leaving. I'll sleep next to Abed tonight and I'll get a ride back with Shirley when we leave. I can't even look at you."

As she started to walk out of the room, Jeff pulled her arm and suddenly his lips crashed into hers. The kiss was strong and passionate, filled with a longing that she could definitely reciprocate.

"Don't even think about walking out of that room."

They pulled in once again, letting their hands roam all over each other's bodies, only moving away to quickly remove the leftover clothing that still clung to them.

Outside, Shirley had stepped out her room to investigate what had happened. She heard shouting coming from Annie and Jeff's room and was alarmed to find out that Britta was injured and somehow still attempting to shower. She had decided to walk towards the hallway containing the room to stop Annie and Jeff when there was silence. At that point, she turned away from the door and walked back towards the living room, shaking her head side to side.

"They're totally doing it. I bet you 20 bucks they finally caved."

"No one is going to bet against you, Troy," she said as she threw her hands up in the air and walked back into the master suite.

Back in the locked room, Jeff and Annie had landed onto the bed. Pulling away from her, he stopped to look into her eyes. Pressed against her tiny frame, Annie was looking right back at him with those large doe eyes. In the dimly lit room, she was glowing. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her and never stop. This moment was everything he could possibly want. After years of meaningless hookups, he knew there was something more to this. Was he about to marry the girl? No, but he was suddenly very scared of losing her. She was definitely pulling away and he seemed to be powerless to stop it. Her hair, still wet from the rain, clung to the side of her face and he softly pushed it away from her, once again falling into her lips. Warm, and with a slight taste of mint, his tongue had a mind of its own. Moving towards her neck, softly placing kisses everywhere he could reach. Annie, quietly moaning in between each kiss, was lost in the moment. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and she couldn't form a complete sentence. She knew it would be a horrible moment to have a conversation with Jeff, but there was so much she wanted to say to him. She ran her fingers across his back, pulling him into her deeper. She felt his bulge pushing against her and she couldn't control herself anymore. She pulled at his jeans, attempting to unzip them, reaching her hands towards the precise location that would have him screaming for more.

She had done her research at Dildopolis to say the least. He had suspected something during the Dungeons and Dragons games, but this just proved his theories. As he felt her hands clutching him, he moaned in pleasure. Running his hands up her thigh, he didn't know what was coming over him. His rational side was yelling to stop what he was doing, to think of who it was and what he was doing to her.

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger! Hah, I'm totally sorry to leave you hanging there, but I still have to see in what direction I take this. I might have one more chapter or two, let me know what you think and I'll be posting soon enough.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: Chinese Food and Paintings

As she felt Jeff's hands moving up her shirt, she had a moment of clarity. Did she really want this? He wasn't just anyone to her, he was everything. It's easy to lose control in a moment of passion, whether that be anger or lust. She had learned that her high school breakdown. It's how people get themselves into situations they regret afterwards. It's how people end up pregnant or waking up in unfamiliar locations with drunk college boys. If she let him continue on, would he still be there when it was done? Would he proceed to ignore her for the rest of the summer, giving her the same excuses when the school year started up again? Would she keep pining away while he had multiple dates and hookups? She pushed his hand out of her shirt, and suddenly Jeff stopped moving.

"We shouldn't do this, Jeff. You know it wouldn't be right."

Sighing, Jeff shut his eyes. Gathering his thoughts, he understood. She didn't have to breathe a word to him. Her thoughts were probably written all over her face. He looked into her eyes, and she was obviously upset. Tears forming at the corners of her eyes, a red complexion brought on by their actions and whatever thoughts were floating in her head at the moment. As he moved away from her, Annie sat up. Fixing her clothing, she wiped her tears.

"I can't stand to see you cry. Please don't cry. You don't have to…"

"I just… I have to go. Don't ask me to sit here and bottle everything up for your sake."

Annie walked out of the room, leaving Jeff Winger as confused as ever.

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><p>4 weeks had passed since the trip and she had kept under the radar, much to Abed and Troy's dismay. The boys had been trying to convince Annie to go see the last Harry Potter movie with them and she had refused, citing work in the morning and feeling under the weather. Annie was big Harry Potter fan, but after the whole mountain trip moment with Jeff, she hadn't been able to face the study group. They hadn't brought up the Jeff incident when they saw her leave the room, but after crying in Shirley's arms, they had decided to get Andre to take her home.<p>

Jeff was extremely confused still. Yes, he understood why she had stopped. But completely? Obviously not. The group hadn't held anything against him when he finally walked out of the room for dinner, since they knew that Annie wasn't the world's easiest person to deal with. What had occurred in that room, would stay in that room unless one of them spoke about it. It was weeks afterwards when Jeff received a text from Abed.

**Abed:**_ We invited her to see Harry Potter and she said no. She hasn't shown up to any of the movie nights or visited Britta or Shirley. Don't be stubborn, Jeff. We just might lose her too if you don't do something. _

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><p>Annie had recently discovered that painting was a source of release for her. Whenever she felt too overwhelmed, she would turn to Pandora on her laptop, take out her supplies and shut the world off. She was pretty good at it too, but that wasn't why she did it. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. She wasn't expecting anyone at this hour, so she was little frightened. Putting down her paintbrush and picking up a baseball bat, Annie walked to the door nervously. As she peeked through the peephole, she shrieked. Putting the bat down on the couch, she opened the door and found Jeff standing there with paper bags in his arms. "Jeff, what's going on? Is everything okay? I could have hurt you with my bat!" He didn't her finish as he gently covered her mouth.<p>

"Before you protest or get violent, I want to say something. You've been avoiding everyone since the trip, and most of all, you've been avoiding me. I know things between us are as complicated as ever apparently, but I don't want you to drop from the face of the earth. With all these problems we're having with Pierce, we really need you. I…I need you okay? I know I acted like a tool last summer, but I don't want to screw this up. I don't want to lose you and I've been on edge because of that. I'm losing you, Annie and I've lost enough people in my life already. You're my moral compass and if I want to survive this Greendale experience with any of these lessons intact, I'm going to need you."

Frowning at his last comment Annie replied,

"I'm not just the little voice inside your head, Jeff."

"You're more than that to me and you know it. I wouldn't be standing at this door if you weren't."

She looked absolutely amazing right now. Her hair placed lightly into a bun, her face covered in paint. Her eyes bright and full of enthusiasm as they always are. All he wanted to do was drop these bags, pull her into the apartment and continue where they left off in that small room in the mountains.

"We don't have to rush anything, Jeff. I don't want to push you into anything that you don't want. That wouldn't be fair to you or me. I just don't want a repeat of last year."

"I won't do that again. I know it hurt you and I'm sorry. I can't promise you I'll be error-less or that I've changed in any huge way, but I will try my hardest to get you to trust me. Just don't make me watch Glee or sit through any other teen show."

"Oh, what makes you think I'm even going to let you into my apartment? I could be expecting someone else right now."

"Annie, from the looks of it, you're a little bit busy painting by numbers."

Smiling, she took the bags from him and thought to herself, _his wit is as quick as ever, but so are his charms. Regardless, I'm glad he showed up. I've really missed him._

"Hmm. See, comments like that will just get you turned away. But if I find Chinese food in these bags, you'll be forgiven."

He grinned as he walked into her small apartment, giving her another smart ass remark about her painting, and shutting the door behind him.

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><p><strong>OKAY! I think that's it for this story. I don't really know where else I can go, so I'll end it here. Thanks for reading this guys and I really hope you enjoyed it! This is the first time I've ever completed any of my stories, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Keep a look out for my next story, probably a couple one-shots though. Oh! I finally found a stable job, so it might be a bit. (YAY FOR JOBS IN A BAD ECONOMY!) Last thing, while I was writing this last chapter, I was listening to Pandora to relax me and halfway in, Gravity by Sara Bareilles came on. I was humming along, unaware when I realized.. "<em>Oh lord, I think Pandora is mocking my writing abilities.<em>" I swear, I must have been laughing for a good 30 minutes. Anyways, thanks again guys!**


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